The individual and the common good in a complex society

Abstract

In a complex, differentiated, and hence pluralistic and conflictual society such as ours, the idea of the good can play an important, two-fold role: to prevent, on the one hand, that an endemic conflict, in itself a sign of a living and healthy society, lead to the crumbling of the society itself; and on the other hand, that individual autonomy and liberty, undisputed foundations of modern democratic society, totter in the setting of an ever more self-referential political system.